Tōshi Ashiya
is hailing from the nomadic, and all but defunct, Ahshiya clan. Acting independently in a world prone toward walking in the direction of self destruction, he steadily takes on missions from nearly any employer. While Tōshi seemingly acts without regard for the consequences of his actions, and appears to be motivated only by the financial gain of his endeavors, he holds a dark secret that drives him forward. Background The is a nomadic group of shinobi that clan trace their origins back to the early years of the . Rather than being a clan organized by stringent bonds of blood, the Ashiya established themselves as a lineage tied together through shared practices and . It was during this same time period that they earned a name for themselves due to the ritualistic and religious services they provided. In particular it was common practice for , and other various nobles, to hire a member of the Ashiya to perform a purification of their estates on a yearly basis or to oversee seasonal festivals. While the requests from major countries eventually died down, especially after the shinobi village system became a common practice, the services provided by the Ashiya are still commonly sought after by commoners and particular noble households. Due to the fact that the Ashiya have never been officially allied with a particular or , and instead only establish relationships that extend the length of their contracts, their members are not considered . This peculiar status is primarily supported by the fact that the clan has always dealt primarily in ritualistic services, rather than accepting assignments more commonly expected of ninja. While this means that that Ashiya have never been marked by the entire shinobi community as criminals, there are some who hold particular grudges due to their history and the inherent nature of their work. Tōshi was born and raised among the Ashiya during what some has described as the fall of the clan. With the steady decline in high profile assignments, and the consequential loss of status and recognition, individuals had been withdrawing from the family to seek different lifestyles. While some discarded their clan association to seek traditional shinobi work in various hidden villages, others simply adapted themselves to a civilian life and settled down. Tōshi, in particular, grew up among a relatively diminished group of individuals that held true to the core tenants of the clan's practices. Travelings across the continent and providing purification services without the constraints of political or economic boundaries, Tōshi learned much about the history and complexity of the shinobi world. Furthermore, as he was brought up he was exposed and instructed the mikkyō of the Ashiya. In particular, Tōshi showed incredible promise in his studies and was permitted to take part in official services from an extremely young age. Alongside 「 」, a fledgling miko of the clan a couple years older than him who showed remarkable fortitude with the Yudachi Method, Tōshi was believed to be a sign of a bright future for the Ashiya. As an adolescent Tōshi established himself as a prodigy of the Ashiya-Style Shikigami Technique and a more than capable user of the Nine Syllables Sealing Method and Yudachi Method, and thus was permitted to work independently from the clan. During such assignments it would not be uncommon for Tōshi to depart and travel separately from the clan for upwards of a month before returning to deliver his reward to the group. During his travels, he begun to adopt additional skills into his repertoire to help ensure his own safety on the road. In particular, it was during this time that he acquired his access to crow-based and developed skill with , skills that would allow him to enhance his survival without antagonizing or outright harming enemies he may encounter. Along with his prowess with his clan's usage of and , Tōshi had become a surprisingly capable shinobi equipped with an irregular set of skills. While most of his development could be attributed to necessity, he secretly wished to surpass 「 」 in terms of skill, and gain her approval as a practitioner. This encouraged him to hone and polish his techniques on a daily basis, and drove him to seek most of work away from the rest of his clan. It was during one of Tōshi's distant assignments that the Ashiya would be dealt one of their greatest blows. While the mission was not a strange request for the Ashiya, a simple purification rite in a small village trying to recover from a drought, a mysterious tragedy took place on that mission. By the time that Tōshi reconvened with the clan, he was met with a truly unexpected scene. From what he could gather from questioning the villagers, something strange occurred when the members of Ashiya attempted their rituals. While they were successful in purifying the villagers, they were all stricken with with an unusual malaise in the aftermath and collapsed unconscious. While the village healer, a competent user of , attempted to provide aid to the fallen members of the clan, they begun to perish one by one from symptoms akin to extreme exhaustion. Only 「 」 was able to be stabilized by the healer, but she remained unconscious and was growing weaker by the day. Inspecting her status, Tōshi discovered that her condition was due to an unnatural level of spiritual burden that was translating to direct physical harm. Tōshi attempted to utilize the same Yudachi Method to relieve the burden upon 「 」, but he only managed to provide enough aid to prevent her body from incurring more damage. Lacking the strength and skill in his clan's techniques, Tōshi knew he would have to bolster his abilities if he was to provide her with a full recovery. Knowing that it would be impossible for 「 」 to survive in her current state, Tōshi requested in lieu of payment for the purification rite that the village arrange for her transport to a proper hospital. Without proper upkeep, her body would be unable to sustain itself in a comatose state. While this request was met without trouble, Tōshi soon faced the predicament of financing long term patient care in a top of the line facility. Unwilling to abandon 「 」 to her fate, Tōshi immersed himself in the forbidden practices of his clan and broke the tradition of accepting missions steeped in violence for the sake of providing the necessary money to keep her alive. Simultaneously, he painstakingly begun honing his techniques not for the sake of merely surpassing 「 」 as a practitioner, but mastering the Ashiya mikkyō for the sake of saving her. Having firmly resolved himself for the path ahead, Tōshi returned to his travels to fulfill his most heartfelt desire. Personality Appearance Abilities Category:Characters